Social Network Analysis and Counterinsurgency Operations: The Capture of Saddam Hussein

Abstract

When considering the current “Global War on Terrorism,” a fundamental concept framing our analysis is that present-day warfare favors the rise of network forms of organization. This is unlike other conceptions of warfare where opposing sides are organized along bureaucratic lines. Given that many analysts consider the nature of warfare in Iraq within the framework of an insurgency, the question arises as to whether or not other conceptions of warfare are in line with present experiences of twenty-first century warfare. It is a great challenge to fight a counterinsurgency in a traditionally networked society. This paper examines the application of Social Network Analysis to present-day counterinsurgency operations, using the capture of Saddam Hussein as a case study. We use Simmel's approach to affiliations and interactions among consensual actors as the frame in which to view why and how warfare operates the way it does in the present context of an insurgency.